API and Curtis news

[Woodsie]

I'm really hoping Api and Curt have great seasons. They need to be playing and forming combinations. When it got tuff in 2018 we looked bad because we didn't have the players who knew each others game and who could perform under pressure.
I'm sure with the new coaching structure it's something they will be concentrating on.

Yep ... losing Siro early and then Api for the last 12 games certainly made a diffrence ... at least Fainu has now been blooded and will be a lot fitter with another off-season behind him .... looks like we have pretty good coverage for 2nd row this year with Waddell added ..

Will be interested to see if GoJetSki has another gear ... or is what we saw what we get .....

 

[Paw93]

Yep ... losing Siro early and then Api for the last 12 games certainly made a diffrence ... at least Fainu has now been blooded and will be a lot fitter with another off-season behind him .... looks like we have pretty good coverage for 2nd row this year with Waddell added ..

Will be interested to see if GoJetSki has another gear ... or is what we saw is what we get .....

Gosiewski is a funny one. Came with a lot of good press on him from Souths and while he showed us some good energy, he showed some defensive frailties and nothing special in attack with the little game time that he managed. Similar wraps are coming from Penrith on young Corey Waddell. Could say that the jury is out for both of them. Hopefully at least one of them shows the x-factor that we need on our edges.

 

[Woodsie]

Gosiewski is a funny one. Came with a lot of good press on him from Souths and while he showed us some good energy, he showed some defensive frailties and nothing special in attack with the little game time that he managed. Similar wraps are coming from Penrith on young Corey Waddell. Could say that the jury is out for both of them. Hopefully at least one of them shows the x-factor that we need on our edges.

Have hopes for both of them .... I did like Waddell's highlight reel .... seems like he knows how to run at a gap and get to the try line through traffic ..... could be a goodun ...... don't know about his tackling though ... but Penrith juniors usually can ...

 

[Paw93]

Have hopes for both of them .... I did like Waddell's highlight reel .... seems like he knows how to run at a gap and get to the try line through traffic ..... could be a goodun ...... don't know about his tackling though ... but Penrith juniors usually can ...

Waddell looks the goods though I'd like to see a bit of mongrel from our second rowers. One thing we missed last season was a serial pest who hits hard in attack & defence but also make life hell for opposition halves and fullbacks. Sort of like Tariq Sims, Wade Graham or even Boyd Cordner.

 

[Briza]

Waddell looks the goods though I'd like to see a bit of mongrel from our second rowers. One thing we missed last season was a serial pest who hits hard in attack & defence but also make life hell for opposition halves and fullbacks. Sort of like Tariq Sims, Wade Graham or even Boyd Cordner.

That's what I loved about choc and gifty, both were pretty hard hitters defensively.
Would like to see more of that from our second rowers next year under des.

 

[Ryan]

That's what I loved about choc and gifty, both were pretty hard hitters defensively.
Would like to see more of that from our second rowers next year under des.

Anthony Watmough was such a good player for us. Bled our colours. Made sacrifices to stay. Makes me so disappointed when I read people bagging him. He'll always be a club legend in my eyes. The contract the NRL accidentally faxed me, was one where he was reducing his existing one, so others in the playing group could also be retained. What a man.

 

[Tragic Eagle]

Grudges are like a disease and there always should be a time when people move on. Anthony was a player I enjoyed watching and always had me on the edge of my seat worrying he would drop it or mess up the play the ball. But the great play far exceeded the odd error and he was a tough running second rower. Notwithstanding what he may have said about the club he bled for the club and will always be a Manly legend to me!

 

[lsz]

Will have to disagree fellas

Club did plenty for him (how often did it turn a blind eye during his developing /
Playing years?) but he trashed the joint for a number of years after he left. Look at Glenn S who was treated far worse and has never , publicly, had a bad word to say

Yep he gave plenty on the park but he has tarnished his reputation in my eyes

 

[Walter Perolta]

You can't teach speed mate. The games changed. List all the best modern teams, what do they have in common?

Super fast wingers , who are amazing under the high ball.

We barely used our wingers last year trent had no clue

 

[Walter Perolta]

That's what I loved about choc and gifty, both were pretty hard hitters defensively.
Would like to see more of that from our second rowers next year under des.

Watmough used to cream there halfbacks hahaha i remember him destroying the English teams halfback in the world club challenge or whatever its called. Poor little guy choc laid him out nicely. Glenn was massive in defense the amount if try saving tackles he made in his career and then there was Matai.. nuff said

 

[BOZO]

Watmough used to cream there halfbacks hahaha i remember him destroying the English teams halfback in the world club challenge or whatever its called. Poor little guy choc laid him out nicely. Glenn was massive in defense the amount if try saving tackles he made in his career and then there was Matai.. nuff said

Great player was Choc . Shame his attitude off the field and at the end of his great Manly career was not as great .

 

[Bearfax]

I think Watmough's attitude generally was probably much better than many who play the game. Some of his comments may have been misguided and somewhat myopic, but his heart was with his fellow players who fought so hard to get Manly through those early years after the team almost disappeared. He wore his heart on his sleeve, but he was loyal to those who mattered in the Manly side, his fellow players.

But Watmough couldn't see past his own perspective especially regarding the Glen Stewart and DCE matters, and the fact that his and Glen's time were over and players like DCE were earning a damned lot more than he did when he started playing for Manly. The League world had become more corporate, business oriented. Watmough was still caught up in concepts such as loyalty and sacrifice, when it was by then, more about players being commodities to be bought and sold. So players like DCE now grab what they can before they are thrown out on their ass with the gold watch. Loyalty is not only dead among the players, its dead among the clubs. What the Penns recently did in inviting supporters to speak their mind and respond to that, is obviously sensible but rare. Its all about business. Only the supporters, and players like Watmough, think its still about the game.

 

[BOZO]

I think Watmough's attitude generally was probably much better than many who play the game. Some of his comments may have been misguided and somewhat myopic, but his heart was with his fellow players who fought so hard to get Manly through those early years after the team almost disappeared. He wore his heart on his sleeve, but he was loyal to those who mattered in the Manly side, his fellow players.

But Watmough couldn't see past his own perspective especially regarding the Glen Stewart and DCE matters, and the fact that his and Glen's time were over and players like DCE were earning a damned lot more than he did when he started playing for Manly. The League world had become more corporate, business oriented. Watmough was still caught up in concepts such as loyalty and sacrifice, when it was by then, more about players being commodities to be bought and sold. So payers like DCE now grab what they can before they are thrown out on their ass with the gold watch. Loyalty is not only dead among the players, its dead among the clubs. What the Penns recently did in inviting supporters to speak their mind and respond to that, is obviously sensible but rare. Its all about business. Only the supporters, and players like Watmough, think its still about the game.

The NRL and all professional sport is all about business, profits, results and viability . Only the ignorant and arrogant cant see this . The Gracious ones acknowledge and accept this and retire with grace and not with bitterness .

 

[Kevinward777]

Anthony Watmough was such a good player for us. Bled our colours. Made sacrifices to stay. Makes me so disappointed when I read people bagging him. He'll always be a club legend in my eyes. The contract the NRL accidentally faxed me, was one where he was reducing his existing one, so others in the playing group could also be retained. What a man.

Choc Watmough is a Manly legend... I pretty much always felt the same way about Des... I just needed a little time to get past the acrimony of 2011. Choc was Manly to the bone... I’ll never forget him laughing in the huddle before the 2008 GF... knew right then that we were specials. All those boys from that 2008 side will always be legends in my eyes.

 

[Bearfax]

The NRL and all professional sport is all about business, profits, results and viability . Only the ignorant and arrogant cant see this . The Gracious ones acknowledge and accept this and retire with grace and not with bitterness .

I think when Watmough first started, it was less business, though heading that way fast. But I suspect with the Sea Eagles back when Watmough started (actually the Northern Eagles) the club was more on its knees than it was recently, with the doors apparently about to close within a week of being saved . The players who helped to build the club from there were obviously close knit, dragging Manly from oblivion to being, at least in game success issues, a powerhouse again. I suspect they felt a degree of betrayal when the club had to rationalise and look to the future, paying big money to young up and comers, and letting past stars go. Naïve maybe, but I think in their mind they should have been treated better at the end, especially if, as Watmough claims, he was willing to sacrifice a large amount of money he could have earned, to ensure there was sufficient money to hold the team together.

 

[BOZO]

I think when Watmough first started, it was less business, though heading that way fast. But I suspect with the Sea Eagles back when Watmough started (actually the Northern Eagles) the club was more on its knees than it was recently, with the doors apparently about to close within a week of being saved . The players who helped to build the club from there were obviously close knit, dragging Manly from oblivion to being, at least in game success issues, a powerhouse again. I suspect they felt a degree of betrayal when the club had to rationalise and look to the future, paying big money to young up and comers, and letting past stars go. Naïve maybe, but I think in their mind they should have been treated better at the end, especially if, as Watmough claims, he was willing to sacrifice a large amount of money he could have earned, to ensure there was sufficient money to hold the team together.

The way I see it is that The Players never built the club . Max Delmege built the club and the coach built the culture . The players were great players and great mates and they also played their role to make the club great but only the ignorant and arrogant fail to see that no one is bigger than the club and the club has its priorities above every player to keep evolving and investing to maintain its great young up and coming players . No one is bigger than the club and the ones that think they are their egos will be deflated .
Towards the end of his illustrious and loyal career with the Sea eagles the honourable Immortal told the Godfather that the Roosters offered him more money. The Godfather did not offer the Immortal the Harbour Bridge he offered him his blessings . No one is bigger than the club .

 

[Bearfax]

The way I see it is that The Players never built the club . Max Delmege built the club and the coach built the culture . The players were great players and great mates and they also played their role to make the club great but only the ignorant and arrogant fail to see that no one is bigger than the club and the club has its priorities above every player to keep evolving and investing to maintain its great young up and coming players . No one is bigger than the club and the ones that think they are their egos will be deflated .
Towards the end of his illustrious and loyal career with the Sea eagles the honourable Immortal told the Godfather that the Roosters offered him more money. The Godfather did not offer the Immortal the Harbour Bridge he offered him his blessings . No one is bigger than the club .

Not according to Rollerball. Ask 'Jonathan' (James Caan)...top movie

ps. I think though Watmough felt that because he had sacrificed his earnings for his colleagues to hold the team together, he felt loyalty was not being returned. Fulton never did that. He went for the bigger money. I don't blame Fulton for that. I've always said that they have a limited life span in the game and need to look after themselves. What I was trying to get across was how Watmough would have seen it from his perspective. Neither way is right or wrong, just as there are no true rights and wrongs in nature, just what is. Both Fulton and Watmough saw things from their own perspective, and were true to what they believed in.

 

[madmax]

Anthony Watmough was such a good player for us. Bled our colours. Made sacrifices to stay. Makes me so disappointed when I read people bagging him. He'll always be a club legend in my eyes. The contract the NRL accidentally faxed me, was one where he was reducing his existing one, so others in the playing group could also be retained. What a man.

Yeah he bled for Manly & made sacrifices for Manly, so did many others....with him, before him & after him, but no other player ever bagged the club the way he did & continues to do so......the club that gave him an opportunity & made him the player he was......the player he probably never would have been elsewhere. Yes he will always be a Manly great but he lost my respect when he lost respect for the club & his team mates! No one is greater than the club......it's a shame he couldn't swallow his pride & just get on with it instead of blaming everyone else for the $hitfight that ensued.

 

[nightster]

Will have to disagree fellas

Club did plenty for him (how often did it turn a blind eye during his developing /
Playing years?) but he trashed the joint for a number of years after he left. Look at Glenn S who was treated far worse and has never , publicly, had a bad word to say

Yep he gave plenty on the park but he has tarnished his reputation in my eyes

Unbelievable player for us and clubman when in the team ... but Choc foolishly burned many bridges .... not the smartest chisel in the pouch

 

[Ryan]

Speaking of API news.

With Api returning, I'd look at Cameron King as our 14, and let Manase continue to develop / get bigger through either Blacktown or Jersey Flegg.

Don't rush him. Let him come along the Matt Ballin way.

Thoughts?